Homeowner before you know it!

Did you know that you can close on a home in less than a month?  You can go from renter to homeowner in no time!! And that month goes faster than you expect! From offer to close can often be 30 days or sooner!

There are a few things that can really help speed along the process.

1. If your REALTOR hasn’t already sat down with you and gone over the process and the contracts with you, do that!  This helps ease nerves, and you know what you will be negotiating before you do it, and it ultimately will make things go smoother for everyone.
2. Get prequalified! Get all of your things to the lenders that you intend to shop around with and choose who your lender is.
3. Make sure that you have your money in order! The cash to close amount will be verified, so make sure that it isn’t stuffed under a mattress somewhere and has been in the bank and can be sourced.  So the bank will know where it came from and can verify that.  If you are getting gift funds or drawing from a retirement account or anything like that, talk to the lender and let them know, so you can get that process going.
4. Decide what you want out of a home!  What you are looking for, your budget, your deal breaker items? Things like that will make it easier when looking at houses. That way you have a plan going in, and your time isn’t wasted.
5. And then, keep up with the deadlines!  You will negotiate the number of days for option period, where you may do inspections and your due diligence.  Also, you can end that early or have a shorted time, if you have already picked out your inspectors, home owners insurance company, and have researched things like school districts, flood zones, etc.
6. Get things to the title company and lender too! They may need things from you aside from the initial documents and statements to qualify for a loan, so the sooner that you get things to them the better!

FIND THE HOME!!  Once you have found the home, let’s put in an offer! Talk to your lender and make sure that they are on the same page as far as closing date goes when you write the original offer.  30 days is pretty typical, but it is a negotiable time, and can sometimes be a little shorter or longer, depending on the needs.  And from there, keep things rolling and keep things moving along.  It is important to choose a realtor and lender that you work well with, but also respond to you! This is often your biggest asset and biggest purchase.  You want to be comfortable and confident when working with this team of people!

30 days really isn’t very long, we can make this dream a reality.  Let’s start shopping for houses today and in about a month you can be a homeowner!